TRY AGAIN: David Price, who was beaten by the Rangers twice last postseason, gets another shot at Texas today. Photo: AP

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ST. PETERSBURG — This is the one advantage the Rays have over the field: Pitching breeds confidence.

And the Rays are confident.

Young left-hander Matt Moore is showing himself to be a force, and now it’s David Price’s turn to learn. His last time out against the Yankees, Price refused to throw his changeup. If he makes the adjustment and understands the value of his secondary pitches, the Rays will have a second dominating start from a young dynamic left-hander.

That means big trouble for the Yankees and their left-handed hitting stars. GM Andrew Friedman’s young staff is the Rays’ present and future. That is what has given life to this $41 million franchise and a win tonight in Game 3 of the ALDS could set up the Rays for another ALCS.

The series is tied 1-1 with Price going up against underrated Texas right-hander Colby Lewis. Lewis is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in the postseason.

Price needs to pick it up. He didn’t win a game in September and was terrible (0-2, 4.97) last October against the Rangers.

“It’s something I think about,” Price said yesterday at Tropicana Field, “and something that I want to get over with. It was tough to get over that. The same team beating you twice at your home ballpark in front of your home fans. That was a tough pill to swallow.”

Price, who has never beaten the Rangers, ran into Cliff Lee twice.

“I need to be able to step up for our team and our fans,” Price said. “We need to come out here and win [tonight].”

Price is going to have to mix it up more.

“I’d just like to see him game plan a little differently,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Maddon wants his young lefty to use “more of the toys in his toy box.”

Use more toys. Win more games.

“We need to try to get [Game 3] so we can close it out [tomorrow],” Johnny Damon said.

That’s confidence.

Catcher Kelly Shoppach said, “We feel pretty good about where we are at. That is what is so great about having the arms that we have. We can run one of seven guys out there and feel pretty good about our chances to win. I think that’s a testament to the organization, the type of players they are able to scout and sign and develop.”

The pitching-rich Phillies are about the only other team that can think along those lines. The Rays rotation compiled a 3.50 ERA this season. Only the A’s (3.47 in 2010) have done better the past 20 years in the AL. The Rays had 79 starts of seven innings or more, second in the majors to the Cy Young Phillies.

The Rays have issues, make no mistake. The stars have to align for them to score enough runs to win, and that’s what made Big Game James Shields’ poor effort in the 8-6 loss Saturday night so difficult. The Rays had won 31 straight when scoring five runs or more.

Shields and his teammates are confident the right-hander will bounce back.

“We have to be happy where our offense is, we’re scoring some runs,” Damon said. “We’ve scored 15 runs the first two games.”

Evan Longoria is the key to that offense and he is swinging a hot bat. When the Rays went ahead 3-0 Saturday night Damon said, “We felt that this series was meant to be ours.”

The rebuilt bullpen also has to hold up and that is a concern because of Kyle Farnsworth’s achy elbow. If the Rays get a strong start tonight from Price they will take command of this series and, as Damon said, could close it out tomorrow.

The Rays are ready. They are home. They are built on young arms, but they also know there will be setbacks.

“It’s not going to be easy for us,” Damon admitted. “Our story is going to take a few pitfalls. But we know how to battle.”